But the record will not be broken: Alcaraz stays in Becker's footsteps with a hard-fought victory

Boris Becker will retain his record even after the current edition of the Grand Slam tournament in Wimbledon. His successor, Carlos Alcaraz, continues to strive for greatness on the "hallowed turf."

Top favorite Carlos Alcaraz is getting closer to his third consecutive Wimbledon title. The Spanish world number two defeated Russian Andrei Rublev 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 after a slight initial struggle, advancing to the quarterfinals of the grass-court classic with his 22nd consecutive victory. There, he will face Britain's Cameron Norrie, who defeated Chile's Nicolas Jarry in five sets.

"You have to believe in yourself. Even if you're a set down," Alcaraz said, adding that even one point could "change everything." Regarding his duel with crowd favorite Norrie, he added: "I'm trying to enjoy it. Every time I get to play here, it's a gift for me. It's going to be very difficult."

Alcaraz had defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in four sets in the third round, already showing signs of being vulnerable at times. In the first round, the Spaniard had defeated veteran Fabio Fognini in a marathon five-set match. Against Rublev, the 2023 and 2024 tournament champion fought back strongly after losing a tiebreak in the first set. After 2:43 hours of play, he converted his second match point to secure his 18th consecutive Wimbledon victory.

The 22-year-old is chasing his sixth Grand Slam title overall and his second in a row – four weeks ago, he won an epic five-set French Open final against Italian Jannik Sinner. He can become only the fifth man in the Open Era (since 1968) to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles. Furthermore, at 22, Alcaraz could become the third-youngest male tennis player in professional history to win three Wimbledon titles. Only Boris Becker (21) and Swede Björn Borg (22) were younger.